i'm having a hard time getting going on anything since getting caught up on a song of ice and fire. i started the wheel of time series, but it's really not hooking me. might have to switch to non-fiction for a while or read some cormac mccarthy or something.

Those books sound fascinating! I'll have to read them, including the one on E=mc squared.

I'm currently re-reading "The Illearth War," the second in the trilogy of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. The first one is "Lord Foul's Bane," and the last one is 'The Wounded Land,' IIRC.

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I read Lord Foul's Bane a few years ago. I never continued the series - partly because I was unimpressed with the first book and partly because it was difficult to find the second and third books at my local libraries. Does the series improve?

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Depends on what you mean by 'improve.' Stephen Donaldson started a second trilogy, of which The Wounded Land is the first, but the story gets more interesting as you progress thru the series. I found my copies at a used book store.

i'm having a hard time getting going on anything since getting caught up on a song of ice and fire. i started the wheel of time series, but it's really not hooking me. might have to switch to non-fiction for a while or read some cormac mccarthy or something.

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If you're looking for fantasy, I'd recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora, about a gang of thieves in a sort of Renaissance-steampunk fantasy-Venice, or Heroes Die, about a future-Earth actor who travels to a fantasy dimension to serve as an assassin for the entertainment of audiences at home. If you haven't read them already.

The Witch Hunter by Bernard Knight. It's one of his Crowner John books and is set in Exeter (UK) around 1195 AD. I've enjoying it. It's the first one I've read so I'm going to see if the local Waterstones bookstore has any of the others when I'm there next week. If not I might have to resort to Amazon UK.

Thomas Becket: Warrior, Priest, Rebel, by John Guy. A pretty good recent biography of Becket in which Guy is rightfully skeptical of the hagiographic sources, but his reassessment cuts both ways and ultimately provides a pretty fair take on Becket, though Henry II takes a beating. There are some points where he appears to buy into fairly puffy-sounding material without articulating why, as he usually does, but overall it's a quality effort.

i'm having a hard time getting going on anything since getting caught up on a song of ice and fire. i started the wheel of time series, but it's really not hooking me. might have to switch to non-fiction for a while or read some cormac mccarthy or something.

Click to expand...

If you're looking for fantasy, I'd recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora, about a gang of thieves in a sort of Renaissance-steampunk fantasy-Venice, or Heroes Die, about a future-Earth actor who travels to a fantasy dimension to serve as an assassin for the entertainment of audiences at home. If you haven't read them already.

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I second the Lies of Locke Lamora recommendation, but with a warning: This is supposed to be a 7-book series, but the third book has been delayed for several years due to the author's health problems. You'll fall head-over-heels in love and then join the rest of us in the waiting game.

i'm having a hard time getting going on anything since getting caught up on a song of ice and fire. i started the wheel of time series, but it's really not hooking me. might have to switch to non-fiction for a while or read some cormac mccarthy or something.

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Joe Abercrombie. First Law Trilogy. Trust me Tom. For all that is good and Nicholas Cagey* in the world, it's the best fantasy you can read if you like ASOIAF.

(* Including if Nicholas Cage played Robocop, the villain in Robocop, or both)